The subject of Europe polarises any otherwise rational debate. Obsessional prejudice, whether pro or con, induces deafness and drives out reason. More inflammatory even than party politics (where spin and expediency have blunted the ideals), passions over Europe (the Union, not the continent) have taken on the trappings of a belief system, susceptible to neither […]

A study of the evolution of the form and content of UK audit reports over, say, the past 50 years would make nostalgic but intriguing reading because it would at the same time reflect changing public and investor expectations of the audit function. Under the Companies Act 1948 audit reports were required, positively, to include […]

Sir, The calculation of UKIP’s so-called funding gap of £120 billion (cuts £90 billion plus extra spending of £30 billion), as referred to by Jill Sherman on pages 1 and 9 in today’s ‘The Times’, is seriously flawed. This ‘gap’ arises only when measured against the numbers in the present state of our stagnant economy, and […]

Regulation of the UK financial services industry is now entrusted to a new body with a new name and a new boss. Andrew Bailey, whose signature appears on your banknotes, takes over this month as chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority, successor to the FSA. Initial impressions augur well. In his first post-appointment interview […]